Sustainable Solutions for Bioenergy Production from Hospital-Based Plastic Waste—Thinking Beyond Landfills

The use of plastics and the growth of modern plastic industries began in the early twentieth century, thus providing the human populace with a very useful tool that found widespread applications in various sectors. Mostly synthesized from petrochemicals, plastic’s high durability makes it one of the most widely used synthetic materials. Its characteristic properties like lightweight, ability to be molded, insulating ability, and resistance against degradation have made it an ideal choice for being used to manufacture different consumer goods, medical equipment, and safety gears. The hospital sector is one of the largest users of plastic products owing to their non-reactive and durable nature simultaneously producing a proportionate amount of disposable plastic waste. The COVID pandemic saw a huge rise in the use of plastic-based materials in the healthcare sector, thus increasing the waste load in the environment. The long-term environmental persistence of plastics due to their non-biodegradable nature coupled with improper disposal and conventional waste management systems have led to the accumulation of these synthetic polymers in different environmental matrices, thereby causing pollution. It is essential to devise sustainable solutions to reduce the load of plastic waste in the environment, thereby nullifying its toxicity. In this context, the conversion of plastic waste into suitable energy forms is suggested as a means to sustainably reduce the plastic contaminants in the environment and parallelly supply energy alternatives to the dwindling conventional energy resources.